Well, I guess it’s about time for the first update. I have been away for one week and life in Buenos Aires has been good so far. It was a long flight, including an 8 hours lay-over at Washington but it was ok. I had a good sleep in the plane and arrived safely at Buenos Aires airport where I was picked up by my Argentinian friend Nicolas.

Life in Buenos Aires: accommodation

Before I got to Buenos Aires, I had booked a room into the Milhouse Hostel . I was going to stay here for 5 nights to recover from the flight and got to know the city. In big cities I always like to have accommodation booked because it’s not that nice to roam around with your backpack, without knowing the way. I really loved this nice hostel in the city centre. The rooms were a bit small, which I guess is normal for city-centre hostels. But there were big common spaces that invited for interaction with other travellers.

The Milhouse is famous for it’s parties :). The first night was a quiet one, but the nights after I enjoyed some good parties in the Milhouse hostel and the neighbouring Milhouse dependance. Every other night, there would be pre-drinks in one of the hostels and you would be able to join a night out to a club. One of the nights I joined the people of the hostel to one of BA’s nightclubs: Terrazzas del Este. It was HUGE. Amazing, outdoor areas, music, really awesome. The party only really started at 2am and lasted until the wee hours 🙂

If you are unsure about staying hostels, you can read this guide about tips & tricks to survive in a hostel 🙂 There are some great tips which will make your life much nice while backpacking!

The food & drinks

Life in Buenos Aires would not be the same without the food. I ate a lot of meat so far!! Argentina is famous for it’s great parrillas (grilled meats). Great steaks and chorizo sausages accompanied by ChimiChurri sauce.

Not to mention the WINE! I was not a big fan of red wine before coming to Buenos Aires, but now I cannot get enough of it. A beautiful red Malbec accompanying a well-cooked steak.. yummm!!

Next to meat, Buenos Aires is full of many great other places to eat. A large Italian population makes pizza a favourite dish, and also great Mexican eateries can be found.

One thing that I had to get used to is the daily planning. Eating breakfast at the hostel (if you make it), eating lunch around 2pm, having dinner around 10pm, going to the club at 2 am. In Maastricht I usually leave the pub at 2am :).

Sightseeing

From the Milhouse hostel, it’s an easy walk into the city. One of the major sights is the Plaza de Mayo which hosts the Casa Rosada. A beautiful square, great for people watching.

One other impressive site that stuck with me is the Recoleta cemetary. This huge cemetary is very impressive and has some famous people laid to rest, of which the most famous is “Evita” Eva Peron. I walked around the cemetary for about an hour and was really amazed by the size of the tombs. Definitely worth a visit!

Other than these two sites, I mainly enjoyed strolling around the great neighbourhoods in the city. San Telmo, Palermo, Boca.. enough to keep you busy for a couple of weeks!

You can find a more in-depth sightseeing guide of Buenos Aires here by a fellow blogger who also visited this amazing city! Alternatively you can also do a cycling tour to explore Buenos Aires, just make sure to stick to the biking lanes because Argentinian traffic can get pretty crazy 😀

Tigre Delta

After 4 days in the city  I was already getting kind of tired the busy life in Buenos Aires. It’s seriously hot over here, many people, busy streets! So it was time to go out. Together with a friend from Maastricht University who is here for a language course I left for the Tigre Delta. A beautiful place where the locals often spend their weekends. It’s a huge area of wetlands, all houses are build on poles and everything is done by boat.

I put a picture online from the local gas station – for boats :). We went to an adventure farm and walked, did horseriding and relaxed all day in the middle of nowhere. Really needed it :). Also, it was the real South-America feeling that I was missing in Buenos Aires so far.Only one hour by train (which by the way only cost 2,70 pesos which is less than 1€!!)

Horseriding in the Tigre Delta

Travelling on my own is going extremely well up untill this point. Dinner with some English, party with some Australians, something different every night!! It’s amazing to meet all these new people and I really enjoy the freedom and going the ability to go wherever I want – Awesome :).

On the road to Ushuaia

Tonight I have my flight to Ushuaia in the most southern point of Argentina. From there on the real travelling starts! Planning on doing some hikes in the national parks and just enjoy the nature. From there I’ll try to travel up north when possible. At the moment the Chilean borders are closed due to strikes so basically nobody can get in or out Ushuaia.  This is because you have to cross Chile to get to Argentinean mainland. I give myself approx 3 weeks to travel to the north of Argentina, then head into Bolivia for 3 weeks as well and then on the way to Lima to arrive there in the beginning of March. The 15th of March is the introduction day for all exchange students.

Well, not much more to tell – stories will get better soon ;). Hasta pronto!

[Edit after my trip: My life in Buenos Aires made it into my Top 10 South-America! Check it out 🙂 ]

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